Can a little humor help you negotiate a better deal? A study conducted by Karen O’Quinn and Joel Aronoff suggests that it can. In their study, participants had to negotiate over the final sales price of a painting. The seller made a final sales offer in one of two ways: half the time the seller…
READ MOREI often get asked, “What happens if my attempt at humor backfires?” To which I reply, “Have you been to one of my talks?” As a Hall of Fame international business speaker and occasional humorist, I’d be the first one to admit that sometimes my humor doesn’t work. Maybe it’s a joke, an anecdote, or…
READ MOREIf employee retention is an issue in your workplace then chances are you are spending time and money conducting exit interviews. Okay…I suppose exit interviews are important, IF they are done right. The challenge is that often employees don’t open up about the real reasons they are leaving your company, for fear of retribution or…
READ MOREWhat beliefs do you bring to your workplace every day? How often does your team discuss the underlying beliefs that drive everyone’s attitudes, values, and ultimately behaviors at work? It seems to me every organization could benefit from a robust discussion of what everyone’s underlying beliefs are as they pertain to workplace culture, the role…
READ MOREGoogle has a phrase they use in their company, “French fry moments,” which they use to convey the concept of anticipating employees’ needs. The phrase and the concept came about after an executive saw a scene on the sitcom 30 Rock, wherein one of the characters, Tracy Jordan, becomes outraged after an employee brings him…
READ MORELast weekend my wife and I watched the charming comedy Hector and the Search for Happiness. Hector is a not terribly happy psychiatrist who undertakes a global search to uncover what truly makes people happy. Here are a few of the things he discovers along the way, all of which echo findings in numerous studies…
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